Government resets New Hospital Programme as RAAC replacements delayed past 2030

By Alexa Hornbeck | Published: 19-Jan-2026
Design & Build NHS Estates & Facilities

The government’s New Hospital Programme has been restructured for 2026 with updated funding, timetables and standardised designs, including delays for RAAC hospitals

You need to be a subscriber to read this article.
Click here to find out more.

The government’s New Hospital Programme (NHP) has been restructured with updated funding, timelines, and standardised designs.

The move follows a 2026 National Audit Office (NAO) update, which built on its 2023 assessment that delivering on the original commitment to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 was not realistic given the funding and market constraints.

The latest report also confirms that all seven hospitals identified for early replacement because of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) will now open in 2032–33, missing the original 2030 replacement target.

RAAC hospital replacements delayed

The reset aims to make the programme more deliverable, with hospitals built with RAAC now missing the 2030 replacement deadline. 

Seven RAAC hospitals, including West Suffolk, Hinchingbrooke, James Paget, Queen Elizabeth (King’s Lynn), Leighton, Airedale, and Frimley Park, are now scheduled to begin main works between 2025 and 2030, with openings expected in 2032–33.

Not yet a Subscriber?

This is a small extract of the full article which is available ONLY to premium content subscribers. Click below to get premium content on Building Better Healthcare.

Subscribe now Already a subscriber? Sign in here.
  • Companies:
  • National Audit Office
See more

You may also like

NHS

New Hospital Programme 2026 reset: what is in each wave?

Read more
The NHS has reset the NHP into four multi-year waves, reshuffling 40 hospital projects to reflect realistic timelines, funding limits, and safety priorities, delaying final completion to the mid-2040s

Trending Articles

  1. Lessons from PFIs: how will they shape funding for NHS neighbourhood health centres? Private finance is expected to fund 80% of the NHS neighbourhood health centres. Industry experts have spoken to Building Better Healthcare about the lessons from PFIs and how they are shaping the new generation of partnership models
  2. Emily Siddon Building opens in Huddersfield with CDC and specialist teaching facilities The University of Huddersfield has opened the Emily Siddon Building on its National Health Innovation Campus for patients and healthcare students
  3. UK’s biggest private hospital chain eyes £1.5bn buyout Spire Healthcare has entered talks over a £1.5 bn takeover, raising questions about NHS contracts and patient care across its hospitals

Upcoming event

Cleanroom Technology Awards 2026

30 March | Virtual See all

You may also like

NHS

New Hospital Programme 2026 reset: what is in each wave?

The NHS has reset the NHP into four multi-year waves, reshuffling 40 hospital projects to reflect realistic timelines, funding limits, and safety priorities, delaying final completion to the mid-2040s
Design & Build

Seven hospitals still have dangerous cladding, three years on from Grenfell tragedy

Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee report calls for tougher action to address fire safety issues in high-rise buildings
Design & Build

Poor financial management and 'unaffordable' PFI hospital cripple NHS trust

Report slams government, regulator and executive board over Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust\'s multi-million pound deficit
You need to be a subscriber to read this article.
Click here to find out more.
Design & Build

£42.6m Stoke-on-Trent CDC nears completion

VINCI Construction has nearly completed the build of the £42.6m Community Diagnostics Centre on former Sainsbury’s site in Hanley
NHS

Cumberland Infirmary to exit PFI contract in rare move by NHS trust

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed plans to terminate the private finance initiative contract at Cumberland Infirmary
Design & Build

IHEEM and the NextGen Healthcare Network announce new partnership

Collaboration aims to strengthen the future pipeline of leaders in healthcare estates and construction
Design & Build

Trust to build £8.6m East Surrey urgent treatment centre

The Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has unveiled proposals for a new Urgent Treatment Centre at East Surrey Hospital to add to existing ED and SDEC services
Subscribe now